Yankee Stadium--The Final Season

Beth and I spent a long weekend in New York, a visit with my Mother and brother Phil in Scotia wrapped around two days and one night in the Big Apple. My primary reason for heading to NYC was to see the Yankees one last time in the "House that Ruth Built." I bought two tickets in the Loge level, third-base side, the section my father usually preferred back in the 60s when he took Phil and I as kids. The seats are still great, but the demand now is high and the only way to get them is through Stub Hub at quite a premium. But for old-times sake I bit the bullet and made some season-pass owner happy.

We got there early enough so that we could watch some batting practice and visit Monument Park before the game. There are an incredible number of retired number plaques and monuments out there, but considering the Yankees history, its not surprising. It takes a lot of great players to win 26 World Series! In my first trip to the Stadium, Mickey Mantle hit a home run and became my favorite. I have quite a few others including Lou Gehrig, even though I never saw him play, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

The Cincinnati Reds young star, Edinson Volquez, held the Yankees bats in check and the Reds won 4-2. The game turned on a fly ball lost in the lights. Johnny Damon played it into a double and three Reds runs followed. The Yanks threatened but couldn't come back all the way. It was the first game I'd been to with Beth that they hadn't won and I'd considered her a lucky charm. Last year the Yanks came back from 4 down against the Cleveland Indians and won on a Alex Rodriguez walk-off three-run homer. That, of course, set the standard which this year's team, even with A-Rod back, couldn't reach.

Still, the crowd of 53,000+ was pretty excited when Robinson Cano singled in a run in the seventh inning. The rally fizzled and I could imagine Dad, looking down from heaven, lamenting "these guys are terrible, they'll never win at this rate," just as he had since the first game we ever saw, and through 8 world championships as well.

Some of the traditions go on even when the Yanks lose. The right field bleacher 'bums' start the game with (clap, clap) "JETER," (clap, clap) "JETER,"... until he acknowledges them with a wave of his glove. They proceed with the rest of the infielders and outfielders until all have been welcomed. And there's always the bottom of the 6th after three outs are recorded and the grounds-crew rakes the field to the music of the Village People, stopping to lead the crowd in physically spelling out "Y-M-C-A."

In spite of watching the Yanks go down to defeat, it was still an electrifying experience and, as baseball fans always say, "wait 'til next year." The Stadium will be history, but they're building a new one across

the street which already has some history of its own, even before the first pitch has been thrown. It seems a construction worker buried a David Ortiz jersey in the cement to jinx the Yankees, and once it was disclosed, they had to dig it up. Have you noticed Ortiz has not had his usual terrific season for the Red Sox this year--who's been jinxed, is my question? I guess we'll find out in October!